so the angel went to the leper and said, “What would you most like?” He answered, “A fine complexion, healthy skin, and relief from the affliction that makes people recoil from me.” The angel touched him; the loathsome condition vanished, and he was given a handsome color and smooth skin. The angel then asked, “Which form of wealth do you prefer?” He replied, “Camels”—or he said “Cattle”; Ishaq, one of the narrators, was uncertain—so the angel presented him with a pregnant she-camel and prayed, “May Allah bless it for you.”
Then the angel came to the bald man and said, “What would you most like?” He answered, “Beautiful hair, and that the condition which offends people be removed from me.” The angel touched him; the blemish disappeared and he was given luxuriant hair. The angel asked, “Which form of wealth do you prefer?” He said, “Cattle”—or he said “Camels.” So he was given a pregnant cow, and the angel said, “May Allah bless it for you.”
Next the angel came to the blind man and asked, “What would you most like?” He replied, “That Allah restore my sight so I may see people.” The angel touched his eyes and Allah restored his vision. The angel then asked, “Which form of wealth do you prefer?” He said, “Sheep,” so he was given a pregnant ewe.
The first two men’s animals bred, and the third man’s flock multiplied, until the first had a valley full of camels, the second a valley full of cattle, and the third a valley full of sheep.
After some time the angel returned to the leper in the same form and appearance he had had before. He said, “I am a poor man whose provisions have run out on a journey. My only means today, by Allah and then by you, is to beg you for a camel so that I may continue my travels. I appeal to you by the One who granted you such a lovely complexion, fine skin, and wealth.” The man replied, “I have many obligations.” The angel said, “It seems I recognize you. Were you not a leper whom people shunned, and poor, and did not Allah grant you wealth?” He answered, “I inherited this wealth generation after generation.” The angel said, “If you are lying, may Allah return you to what you were.”
The angel then came to the bald man in the same guise and said what he had said to the first, and received the same reply. So he said, “If you are lying, may Allah return you to what you were.”
Finally the angel came to the blind man in his former guise and said, “I am a poor traveler whose supplies have run out; my only means today, by Allah and then by you, is to beg you for a sheep that will help me continue my journey. I appeal to you by the One who restored your sight.” He replied, “I was once blind, and Allah restored my sight; so take whatever you wish, and by Allah I will not hold back from you anything you take for His sake.” The angel said, “Keep your wealth. You were only being tested. Allah is well pleased with you and is angry with your two companions.”
Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.